Measured bremsstrahlung photonuclear production of 99Mo (99mTc) with 34Â MeV to 1.7Â GeV electrons

99Mo photonuclear yield was measured using high-energy electrons from Laser Plasma Accelerators and natural molybdenum. Spectroscopically resolved electron beams allow comparisons to Monte Carlo calculations using known 100Mo(γ,n)99Mo cross sections. Yields are consistent with published low-energy data, and higher energy data are well predicted from the calculations. The measured yield is (15±2)×10−5 atoms/electron (0.92±0.11 GBq/μA) for 25 mm targets at 33.7 MeV, rising to (1391±20)×10−5 atoms/electron (87±2 GBq/μA) for 54 mm/ 1.7 GeV, with peak power-normalized yield at 150 MeV.